AH 342 Black Subjects in White Art History: Fall 2021 Compendium

Shantell Martin Inspired Pattern Design

For this media project, I decided to consider Shantell Martin’s work and how her voice as a successful Black artist could impact the world today. In 2020, Martin was asked by Microsoft to paint a mural near one of their store locations in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. While this request was intended to convey the company’s support, the verbiage used in the email suggested that Microsoft wanted the mural to be completed while the movement was “still relevant”. This phrasing not only revealed the company’s true intentions of wanting to be “relevant” instead of supportive but also exposed their request as nothing more than an act of publicity. Martin responded by exposing the email on her social media platforms.

“Here’s an example of what it’s like to A) [be] reminded of my Blackness, B) how Black pain and oppression is commodified with performative allyship C) what systematic racism looks like within corporations. MOST IMPORTANTLY D) apparently the folks at @microsoft and McCann Erickson feel that that the #blacklivesmatter Movement and protests will not be relevant after this weekend. Education and Accountability must occur in order to see REAL change. Supporting equality only when it’s popular is in itself a form of racism”[1].

Other artists have decided to use their platform to support the BLM movement in various ways. Calida Rawles, for example, created her piece Lost in the Shuffle to raise money and awareness for the Minnesota Freedom Fund, the Equal Justice Fund Initiative, and Black Lives Matter. This is the purpose I intended to imitate for my media project.

When first starting the project, I considered Martin’s unique style. Shantell Martin’s art can be described as an eclectic use of lines, simple illustrations, and handwritten typography which encourage her audience to consider their own identity and reflect on their intentions in daily life. By utilizing these elements along with several words from our critical race theory vocabulary list, I believe I created three unique products that properly emulate Martin’s style while also communicating support of equality and justice for all.
 
[1] Goldstein, Caroline. “Microsoft Asked Shantell Martin to Paint a Black Lives Matter Mural While It Was 'Still Relevant.' Her Response Shook the Internet.” Artnet News. Artnet News, June 10, 2020. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/shantell-martin-mccann-microsoft-blm-mural-1883325.
 

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